Question

The underground storage structure in Gladiolus is ________ .
A. Corm
B. Bulb
C. Rhizome
D. Stem tuber

Answer 1

Underground structures are specialized for food storaging.
In gladiolus corms are the underground structures.

Complete answer: Corms are usually seen in perennial plants and further develop into flowering plants.
1. Corns are usually stem-based storage plants.
2. The few examples wherein corm is the storage structure are gladiolus, crocus, and crocosmia.
3. A clean gladiolus corm is dom-shaped and looks like a chocolate kiss with a papery cover on one side.
4. They are flatter in shape at another end.
5. The structure of the corms is designed for food storage.
6. When you cut open a corm nothing is seen inside unlike an onion bulb but the corm has starchy storage tissue that fuels for new growth.
7. The embryonic plant seen in the center has shoots that lead up to the eyes.
8. As the corms are annual, they can grow on top of old ones which withers and ends up drying.

So, the correct answer is “Option A ”.

Additional Information: Corms are a cylindrical, vertically growing structure.
Adventitious roots develop all over them. They are contractile in nature.
The food is usually stored in the stem. The terminal bud is large.

Note: 1. Corms are differentiated from the bulb by their storage location and also on the structure.
2. In bulbs, the food is stored in the roots. Examples of bulbs are onions.
3. Rhizomes are continuously growing horizontal stem which put out lateral roots, seen in canna or lily of the valley.
4. Whereas stem tubers are thickened underground parts of a stem and also have fleshy roots they are seen in potatoes.